Guidelines for sustainable cooperative development and the Zimbabwe Law on Cooperatives

Abstract

This study examines the effects of Zimbabwe's Cooperative Societies Act, a cooperative statute, on the long term expansion and advancement of cooperatives in Zimbabwe. The cooperative summer school in Pula, Croatia in 2023, which was organised by Saint Mary's University and hosted by J Dobrila University, served as the model and inspiration for this work. The summer program made clear how crucial appropriate cooperative law is to the growth of cooperatives. In a similar spirit, this essay uses the example of Zimbabwe to contextualise the author's summer school lessons and experiences. It evaluates how the law, which establishes cooperative regulations and policy for the sustainable growth of cooperatives in Zimbabwe, complies with the seven cooperative principles of the International Cooperative Alliance. The paper examines how well the seven principles are reflected in the legislation and how the current version of the law encourages the growth of cooperatives from a non-legal academic perspective. The study begins by highlighting the cooperative principles and then evaluating the definition of cooperatives given by Zimbabwean law before delving into a number of cooperative-related aspects, including their composition, regulations, and purposes. It concludes by evaluating how well Zimbabwe's laws support a sustainable framework for cooperative development inside the country. The study makes it clear that although Zimbabwean law is based on cooperative principles, it ignores key crucial cooperative values that are listed in the seven ICA cooperatives principles. As a result, the legislation must be in line with the concepts of international cooperation. In order to gather research data, the paper employs a qualitative research methodology and focuses on primary document reviews and proceedings at the Pula cooperative law summer school.